[OA] Withering palm

[hong]

Is this spell any good?

It's a 7th level wu jen/maho Necromancy spell. Make a melee touch attack; if the target fails their save, they then take 1 point of Str and 1 point of Con damage per 2 caster levels. If you crit the touch attack, it becomes permanent Str and Con drain.

Disintegrate is also a 7th level wu jen spell that kills on a failed save (or, in 3.5E, does a minimum 30d6 damage). It also has the benefit of being a ranged spell, so you don't have to get up close and personal with icky monsters who want to eat your brain. Finally, if they make their save, you still do (a small amount of) damage.

Destruction is also a 7th level maho spell that kills on a failed save, and is a targeted spell that doesn't require any sort of attack roll.

What would be the benefit for either a wu jen or a maho-tsukai of taking withering palm?

 

[daTim]

It does not seem that good, except at really high levels... maybe

Ray of enfeblement does on average more damage, has no save, and is a ray. As for the Con drain, a bestow curse does that just as well. There is also an 8th level Bestow Greater Curse in the Book of Vile Darkness that can reduce one stat all the way down to 1 on a failed save, or reduce 2 by 8 (if I remember correct)

For 7th level, it seems really weak. It would balanced if it had no save, and was a ray.

 

[hong]

If it had no save, it would be a freakin' must-have! Remember true strike....

How does this sound: on a failed Fort save, 1 pt Str, Dex and Con damage per 2 caster levels; if the save succeeds, 4 pts Str, Dex and Con.

 

[the Jester]

The advantage of withering palm over, say, ray of enfeeblement is that it deals actual ability damage, so it stacks. One of these ain't so hot, but watch what happens when you hit someone with two of 'em!

Keep in mind, too, that con is the only ability that kills you when you reach 0. And that dropping someone by 7 or more con drops their hps rather dramatically as well.

 

[hong]

The advantage of withering palm over, say, ray of enfeeblement is that it deals actual ability damage, so it stacks. One of these ain't so hot, but watch what happens when you hit someone with two of 'em!

Well, if one spell was 7th level and the other was 1st, I would hope that the one was a bit better than the other....

Keep in mind, too, that con is the only ability that kills you when you reach 0. And that dropping someone by 7 or more con drops their hps rather dramatically as well.

Maybe add something like it can't drop your stats to below 1? It would make the spell even more like a powered-up version of harm.